Woody, Brandon - For The Love Of It All

For the Love of It All is more than trumpeter and composer Brandon Woody's recording debut; it is a manifesto, a ritual, a hymn to the enduring power of love. Joined by his band Upendo — Troy Long (piano, organ, Rhodes, keyboards), Quincy Phillips (drums), and Michael Saunders (bass) with special guests Imani-Grace (vocals), Vittorio Stropoli (aux synth) — the Baltimore-born and based artist extends an invitation into communion through six captivating original compositions.

Woody describes "Real Love, Pt. 1," the album's lead single, as "the essence of the group." Co-written by Long, it's a rare piece that balances individuality and community, leaving listeners with a visceral sense of what For the Love of It All really means. This track is where they empty themselves entirely, leaving traces of their humanity — sweat, laughter, and tears — pressed into the sound. It is a bold testament to the trust, interplay, and love that binds them. The song opens with conviction, each instrument claiming its space with a distinct and purposeful voice. Stropoli joins the quartet on aux synth, an electrifying layer that expands the piece. Woody's trumpet rises, fierce and unyielding, as Long and Phillips fold in rhythmic spirals beside him—delicate yet deliberate.

For the Love of It All surges with love, not as a fleeting sentiment but as an elemental force channeled through sound. Each song emits a lineage of perseverance, an inheritance of resilience passed down through intuitive memory. This project sews a tapestry of music that holds space for the unseen — love in its purest form: communal, generational, and radical. It is a reckoning with history and a strong gesture toward the future, where the boundaries between emotion and sound dissolve, leaving only the raw, unmediated truth of connection.

With his debut on Blue Note Records, Woody positions himself as both an innovator and a griot, balancing technical mastery with a reverence for his roots. This album anchors itself in the past while reverberating forward, tethering listeners to something larger than themselves. In every track, love is palpable, not idealized, but complex, textured, and human. This is music that carries, uplifts, and insists that survival is its own form of artistry, powered by the knowledge that love, in all its dimensions, is what binds us across generations and geographies.

Esteemed critics Marcus J. Moore and Giovanni Russonello enthusiastically name-checked Woody as an artist to watch in an episode of the New York Times Popcast in 2024, with Russonello declaring him "the exact trumpeter of this moment, Roy Hargrove by way of Eddie Gale [and] Freddie Hubbard." Moore added that "Brandon is the best parts of 'old school jazz' and 'new school jazz,'" calling him "a person that everyone needs to be looking out for in a really big way."

Tracks:
Never Gonna Run Away
Beyond The Reach of Our Eyes
Wisdom; Terrace on St Paul St.
Perseverance
We, Ota Benga
Real Love, Pt. 1